Poop Shute

Joey: A Manifesto

Know this, before you read on: The following is a statement of self. This is not the self I was six months ago, and may not likely be the self I will be in another six months. Who knows. This is who I am and how I feel right now. If anyone has any problem with that, I encourage you to visit the attached COMMENTS button. I enjoy a good dialogue.

I will not edit myself. I will not censor myself. Not for you, not for anybody. Not in my actions, or words, and certainly not in thoughts or even on this blog. I will, under certain circumstances, use discretion, but that discretion is for me to decide. I will operate under the notion that my words and deeds have no more control over the people around me than they themselves allow. I cannot "make you angry" or "make you sad." Those feelings are yours. How you react to me is not my creation. It goes the same for me as well. My emotions are mine and not anyone else's responsibility.

My goal is honesty in all things. I value honesty above most everything else, and I live in a way that lets it show. That said, I understand that there are times when omission is appropriate for the sake of protecting someone. I am of the opinion that those times are not nearly as often as we fool ourselves into believing, and I will use them sparingly.

I will not ask for permission from anybody for anything that is not concrete. And I will not expect it from others either. I will, however, respect personal space and possessions. Meaning I will ask to borrow this or that thing, but I will not seek approval for any interpersonal words or actions. There are exceptions to this, of course, but they are specific, few and far between, and again; at my sole discretion. If I do not perceive a need, then I will act accordingly, and I will not apologize when your opposing paradigm is violated. I will communicate clearly that I understand your point of view, and I regret that you are upset, but that I simply do not see it your way. I will not subscribe to your morality just to smooth out troubled waters. I will agree to disagree. My filters and paradigms are not necessarily yours, and vice versa. I will live in a way that allows for that understanding, but I will not offer up an apology that I do not believe in. That apology would be a lie, and violate the statements of my second paragraph.

I will allow for the fact that things will rarely ever go how I plan. There are far too many variables in this crazy world we live in for anyone to ever really be in control. Many of those variables are sentient variables with their own plans and sets of other variables that will invariably come crashing into mine. They will disrupt, distract and destroy. I will shrug and probably laugh, because it is what it is. I recognize that we humans tend to fool ourselves into believing we are in control of our individual little movies that we are living in, but the supporting cast has some pull too. Maybe more. Probably more.

I will trust and respect those around me by default, unless given provocation to do otherwise. But I will not put up with abuse. Of any kind. I am not careless with the hearts of those whom I value and respect, and I will not stand for carelessness with my own. I will not stand for emotional vampires, liars, cheats or thieves in my life. Even if they have not done these things to me yet, how will I know where they draw the line? Having said that, I will also clearly communicate when I sense any of these things, and accept apologies and offer trust again where I deem it appropriate.

I will strive in every way to improve my life and the lives of those around me and the world in general in any and every way I can. Again, my paradigms of what that means might conflict with those of others around me. I will try to accommodate where I can, but I will not compromise my integrity or my own principles in the attempt.

I will keep my mind open to the new. New music, new ideas, new people. New. New is scary for many people, but it will never be for me. I thrive on new. Like a shark I will stay in motion, moving ever forward into what is new without fear. As I move forward I will hope that all these ideals hold true for the next six months and beyond. As much as I might change and grow, these things I have written seem to be fundamentals of life that my very limited 26 years of experience have taught me.